Monday, December 10, 2018

I always aspire to make ALL of my Christmas tags, which usually doesn't happen. It gets to be Christmas Eve, my packages aren't wrapped, and the tags aren't all done, so I end up using stick-on tags on the people I know won't notice (my husband, for sure).

I've made a few tags this year, and these polar bears turned out cute:

I started with regular 4-3/4" x 2-3/8" shipping tags from Staples. I trimmed the bottom to look like icicles with a Martha Stewart punch, which I think is the key element to make these tags unique. The cute polar bears are from a very old stamp set "Polar Bear Holiday" from CTMH. I colored them with a mixture of Copic markers and watercolor pencils. The bears are affixed with dimensional adhesive, and the little white dots are Nuvo drops. There are also silver Nuvo drops on the skate blades and tiny touches on the blue sweater.

These wintery tags would work with any winter character stamp. They came together pretty quickly, and I think my gift recipients will appreciate them.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog during this busy season, and good luck to you in getting all your holiday projects done in time!

Saturday, December 8, 2018

This journal is outside my normal eclectic, junky style, but I do think the papers are super cute and whimsical. I used Doodlebug Design, Inc.'s "Christmas Town" papers and stickers exclusively, along with some CTMH cardstock, ribbons, Nuvo drops, and Stickles. I picked the blank album up years ago on a clearance shelf. It's from Fancy Pants Designs. It's unique in that between every page of kraft papers for decorating and journaling, there are sleeves for photos, both 4x6 & wallet size. The book has 23 pages and 24 sleeves.

I added lots of tags, tuck spots, photo mats, and pull-outs:

One of my favorite thinks to do in holiday albums lately is to make a pocket out of a snowbank like I did in the next picture:

For as many pages as there are, this album came together very quickly, and was a lot of fun. All the papers are so cute. This is going up on my Etsy shop today.

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Finally, my Etsy Shop Is Open!

Even though my blogging has slowed down immensely, I'm still creating! Recently, I've been busy making lots of Christmas junk journals, and I finally opened my Etsy Shop. You can visit it HERE or go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/GoodGollyMsMolly. Here are some of the items I have for sale.
Little Golden Book junk journals:

I take apart the books, then bind them back together with rings. All the original pages are there, so the books can still be enjoyed, but I add extra pages that contain lots of pockets and foldouts and places for pictures and journaling memories of Christmases past and present:

I'm also making little journals out of antique post cards. Here are some that I have left for sale. I'm currently making more, so watch my shop for new arrivals.

These mini journals make great Secret Santa or presents for gift exchanges. They are also filled with lots of fold-outs and tags and little extras dangling from the edges. Here are a few pics from inside the postcard journals:

I've been happy with my sales so far. I've also sold a few items in Spring City Vintage, the antique/vintage shop in which I have some items for sale in Colfax.

If you like my items, please go to Etsy and take a look around at my shop. To help me get more traffic, please follow and like my shop, and mark some of my items as favorites. If you search for me look for GoodGollyMsMolly or click HERE.

Friday, August 17, 2018

If you've ever gone on a road trip with little kids, you know you have to keep them busy. It keeps them happy and the adults from losing their minds. We're heading out on a 1000+ mile road trip soon with our toddler grandchildren for the first time and want some activities to occupy them other than movies and video games. (These are absolutely fine in reasonable amounts, and we will definitely have those too!) Here's what I prepared for our upcoming beach vacation:

I used large index cards and punched a single hole through all of them. Using my Crop-A-Dial made this pretty simple. I added a binder ring to keep the stack of cards together. The index cards are a little sturdier than most notepad paper, and affixing them together with a ring keeps you from having hundreds of pieces of paper strewn throughout your vehicle. I used the cards that are lined on one side and blank on the other. I also decorated the top card as a "cover," but that's not necessary at all.

I added a set of new WASHABLE markers. (You don't want to find unexpected permanent "art" on your upholstery.) I also added some colored pipe cleaners, which are very cheap. Bending the pipe cleaners into shapes and making chains with them should keep the kids busy for miles.

I found some oversized, cheap pencil cases at Target to keep the kit together. They even have a vacation theme to them. What kid wouldn't want to doodle if they had this on a long road trip?

My daughter suggested adding a pad of Post-Its for each child too. She's done this before, and they were a hit. I still need to pick some of those up.

One last thing about road trips with kids: I like to hold back some treats and activities for times when you can tell the child has about had it with being on the road. Pulling a small surprise out of a bag really perks them up and usually keeps a meltdown at bay. I'll probably give the kids the art sets after we've ridden for awhile, and I'll probably hold the pipe cleaners out until even later so they're "new" when the kids need a fresh activity to keep them occupied.

Examples of other things I'm packing are some new books, sticker books, child binoculars (which we'll use at the beach too), an I-Spy card game (similar to travel bingo), small treats like Smarties, and the Barrel of Monkeys game.

Carta Bella "A Very Merry Christmas"

All together, it probably cost me a little over $25. With it I made a mini album (sold already for $50), 16 cards, and 9 tags! I also have three full pages left that I'm saving for two scrapbook layouts and an advent project. I've also got about a half sheet at least of matching stickers. The lesson here is that you can spend a lot of money on creative supplies, but if you're smart, you can make them go a long way.

This post is going to focus on the mini album, but here's a sneak peak of the cards and tags. I'll do separate posts on those soon.

Getting Started:

Here's how the book looked before I worked on it:

A very sturdy cardboard plain craft-look book. Not including the front and back covers, it contains six pages. I mistakenly threw away the packaging, but the back of the book has an indented watermark that looks like this:

So, it's a Memory Hardware book by Prima, and the size is roughly 6.5 x 7 inches.

I used a bunch of stuff I had on hand. Without going into too much detail, especially because you can find embellishments from your own stash of materials, here are my main "ingredients."

Ink: Wendy Vecchi Tea Rose Archival Ink by Ranger. Every single page and paper is edged in this pinkish-red ink. I applied it with a Tim Holtz round dauber by Ranger.

All CTMH--easily substituted with other products or left off entirely.

These Tim Holtz Idea-ology items:

Tinsel & Holiday Flashcards (not the 2017 flashcards)

And these stamps:

Stampers Anonymous (worn grid) Inkadinkadoo (polka dots), Stampabilities (snowflakes), and Our Daily Bread Designs (O Christmas Tree). Any and all of these could also be substituted with other stamps you already own.

Ribbon: I didn't list any of the assorted ribbons and strings I used (aside from the Tim Holtz tinsel) because they were all scraps I had around and any ribbons will do.

Ready to Create:

(This is how my work area looked most of the time. I'm sure it would be more efficient if I worked tidier, but I just don't think that's going to happen.)

The front cover:

The front cover is paper: A back layer(red with snowflakes) and then a smaller layer (ornaments) with the punched scalloped edge attached.

The flower is made from the Tim Holtz die Tattered Flowers. First I stamped cardstock with a music background, then cut the flowers, put them together, and inked the edges. It was too puffy? tall? 3D? at first, so I smashed it down with the palm of my hand. I added the two little mini pieces of paper from the right and top to draw the eye in, and embellished with several red and silver sparkles. I tucked a couple pieces from the evergreen punch under the flower.

The Tim Holtz die:

(one of his best dies ever, in my opinion)

Pages 1 & 2

The first two pages:

Page one has a pocket and tag for either a tiny picture or journaling.

I included a to/from tag so the album can be given as a gift:

I hand wrote the "to: from:" and added little tails of paper to look like ribbon, along with three sparkles.

The second page is mainly for a photo, so there's lots of empty space. I also loved this paper sheet, and didn't want to mess with it.

But I did stick on some little sequins to give it some dimension.

Pages 3 & 4

Page 3 has a slot left unadhered for a tag on the left side for journaling or small pic.

When inserted The tag & ribbon also serve as the tab for that page. You can see the tab for the next page on the far bottom right of the picture of the two-page layout. It's simply a folded piece of paper with one of the stickers on it.

I stuck a CTMH plastic round window disc over the round embellishment on the top left of the page. I'm sure no one still has these old things but me, and this could be left off completely, or you could cover the candles in CTMH Liquid Glass or Ranger's Glossy Accents so get a similar look

The "Joy" tag is stuck on with raised adhesive, and the whole area opens.

Plenty of room inside for a photo on the right, and there's a Santa sticker on the left. I don't usually use/like stickers in my projects. In addition to edging all the papers in ink, I also inked the edges of stickers to tone them down a little so they would look less "sticker-like."

The right side has a pocked and two tabs for journaling & a picture:

Pages 5 & 6

On page 5 you can see the back of the page tab, which has another sticker on it. The little "Jolly Skater" holds back an accordion-folded hidden element.

Here's one side of the accordion fold--lots of room for photos or journaling.

And here's the other side with more places to personalize it:

Page 6 has the mistake that bothers me the most:

I forgot to edge with red ink around the "25" banner stickers! I'm sure no one will notice, but it still irritates me every time I look at it. This page also has a mini envelope and tag.

Speaking of tags, I cut some of my own tags and I used some purchased tags:

Pages 7 & 8

Page 8 features a lady dancing with Santa and a punched heart page tab wrapped in baker's twine.

The dancing panel is attached with raised adhesive.

You can open up the page to the left:

Revealing a journaling tag on the left and a mat for a pic on the right.

Then the right side opens up to the right:

Revealing even more places for holiday photos.

This picture is an attempt to show how it opens left and then right.

Pages 9 & 10

Page 9 has a waterfall feature for lots of notes and photos:

(from the side)

To balance with the busy, bulky page 9, page 10 is pretty plain, with only two different papers and an upper border of punched icicles. The page tab is a Tim Holtz Holiday Flash Card. page 11 has a different flash card glued to the back of it.

Pages 11 & 12

Page 11 has some pretty busy paper as a background, so I didn't want to add much. You can see the reverse side of the page tag--cheer. And I added some sparkle toward the bottom of the page.

Page 12 has a lot going on:

The ruffle at the top of the pocket is only paper folded to look like a ruffle with a piece of black ribbon across the top. The candy jar is a sticker.

The flower(?) is a long piece of paper with one edge scallop punched. The paper is accordion folded and then curved around so the ends meet to form a round shape. The snowflake center is a punch, and there's a small sparkle embellishment in the middle.

There's an assortment of hand-cut tags tucked in the pocket.

Pages 13 & 14

The last two pages of the album:

Page 13 has a flap that lifts to reveal a tag pocket:

Room for another large photo.

I didn't take a picture of the last page (14) evidently. But you can see from the picture of the two-page layout above, it's only a piece of one of the busiest papers, which can either be left as-is as a final page, or a large mat for a final holiday photo.

Finishing Up:

The back cover has a paper piece with some lines out of Twas the Night Before Christmas:

I used some really thick baker's twine and wrapped a single, long piece around the spine at every page--you can see them it on some of the photos above.

Then I tied all the strands together near the top of the spine, leaving long tails.

In the pictures above and below, you can see how chunky the album turned out to be. I LOVE a chunky book with bits and pieces sticking out. I like to put the page tabs on just so they'll stick out beyond the pages & cover of the book.

And here's another look at the finished project. You can see I added some red jingle bells to the string tails on the spine.

I received a lot of positive feedback about this book (it sold immediately), and I'm going to try to do some more using the same types of pages. Really, once you make one and figure out the different elements for the pages (pockets, tags, etc.) the following album(s) come together much more quickly.

Thanks for reading this LONG post. If I've left off any important instructions, please ask me to elaborate in the comments. I hope you make your own Christmas mini album to help hold all your holiday memories!

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Who?

Ms. Molly: a flibbertigibbet who lives in Central Iowa; has been married for over 30 years to Tom; has a special needs son Nick, a daughter Jess and son-in-law Neal, and grandson and granddaughter Finn and Shae. She likes papercrafting, photography, traveling, music, the beach, reading, going to Jimmy Buffett concerts, soccer, the Iowa Hawkeyes, the WORLD SERIES CHAMPION CHICAGO CUBS, the New Orleans Saints, and tequila & rum. She dislikes Iowa winters, the Hawkeyes when they lose, and people who talk about themselves in the third person.